$33M Raised for Phase 2 Spinal Arthroplasty Study

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based spinal implant company 3Spine, Inc. has raised $33 million in a Series C oversubscribed private offering—which brings the total raised to date to a whopping $50.3 million.

Ron Yarbrough, 3Spine chief operating officer, told OTW, “The majority of proceeds from this funding round are allocated to enrolling subjects in a Phase 2 U.S. clinical trial. The balance of the funds will function as growth capital for 3Spine as we scale up use of our BalancedBack Total Joint Replacement procedure and MOTUS device technologies outside of the U.S.”

Yarbrough continued, “Our immediate goal at 3Spine is to enroll our Phase 2 clinical trial. After completing several years of pilot clinical and benchtop performance testing, we are very excited to be embarking on this next phase to further our mission of providing a more effective treatment for debilitating low back and leg pain.”

According to the company, the BalancedBack MOTUS implant was designed to replace the functional disc and facet joints via a posterior approach and, thereby, reduce back and leg pain while improving spinal stability. By reconstructing a functional spine unit, management hypothesis is that this implant could also correct posture and improve freedom of movement.

Management told OTW that this particular technology is the only lumbar spinal fusion implant of its kind.

Medical investor Byron DeFoor, who led the funding offering, explained his enthusiasm for 3Spine’s approach: “I have watched this technology mature over 15 years to this point where it is now one of the most researched biomechanical devices in the history of spinal surgery. The capital we have raised through private sources is a testament to the opportunity. Like many people in America, I have personal experience with spinal fusion. We can do better. 3Spine’s motion-based approach has the ability to improve the daily lives of millions of people.”

Arthroplasty in Spine – Reproducible and Teachable, Finally?

“Hips and knees are some of the most successful procedures in all of medicine,” said Marc Peterman, 3Spine CEO. “It’s common sense to develop a total joint for the low back, but this is a very hard technical challenge. Scott and Craig have refined this transformational concept to be reproducible and teachable.”

3Spine was founded with specific intent to develop and research tools for low back total joint replacement. Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 3Spine supports an R&D center in the Greater Boston area, as well as clinical facilities in the Cayman Islands.

In September 2020, 3Spine’s MOTUS was named a Breakthrough Device by the Food and Drug Administration. Initial Phase 1 clinical outcomes have been published, and 3Spine is now enrolling 150 patients in a prospective Real-World Evidence RWE study that will be conducted across 16 clinical sites, spanning 11 states.

“I believe we now have the ‘holy grail’ of surgical spine care,” stated Alex Sielatycki, M.D. “Our published Phase 1 clinical results are truly remarkable, and I am excited to participate in Phase 2 as an IDE [investigational device exemption] site. I fully expect that the next generation of spine surgeons will center their entire practices around MOTUS and spinal motion preservation. My patients want nothing less.”

“When trumpets were mellow
And every gal only had one fellow
No need to remember when
‘Cause everything old is new again” —  Song by Peter Allen